By Ron Chen, Correspondent ASEAN Region

The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) of India’s Ministry of Commerce and Industry, and the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), have signed an agreement to establish a Facility for International Cooperation on Inclusive and Sustainable Industrial Development (FIC-ISID).

The Facility will create and share knowledge, build capacity and facilitate projects and partnerships on inclusive and sustainable industrial development under Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 9. Speaking at the signing event, Joint Secretary of the DPIIT, Vandana Kumar said “this facility is expected to contribute significantly to enhancing productivity, inclusiveness, sustainability and innovation in the Indian manufacturing segment, by availing, adapting and promoting international good practices and techniques, to help manufacturers succeed and excel in domestic and international markets”.

UNIDO Representative and Head of Regional Office in India, René Van Berkel explained that the Facility will be an organically evolving set of activities, including online training, advocacy, policy advice and promotion of best practices. “It will be the umbrella under which we will continue with high-level roundtables and dialogues and it will work with national and state governments in India and assist them in designing and implementing new initiatives. It will also work with industry bodies to give inputs to their respective task forces and contribute to their events and initiatives.”

Van Berkel added, “The FIC-ISID builds upon the activities and achievements of past collaborative UNIDO–DPIIT projects that supported sectors as diverse as bicycles and bicycle parts, leather tanning and products, cement, and pulp and paper, in areas of productivity, quality, innovation and environment.”

UNIDO has already taken initial steps on SDG9 advocacy over the past 18 months through high-level dialogues on, amongst others, Manufacturing for India@75, Building Back Business from Crisis and the opportunities and challenges of Industry 4.0.

UNIDO has a history of over five decades of technical cooperation supporting the development of the manufacturing sector in India. The current 2018-2022 Country Programme supports India’s transition towards inclusive and sustainable industrial development with a specific focus on the productivity and resilience of micro, small and medium enterprises; solutions to the climate emergency, resource-scarcity and environmental degradation; inclusive and responsible value chains and business; and strategic policy for industrial transformation.